I read about this a couple times already, but just saw it recently on (((Billy’s))) site and I figured I’d go along with it. Here’s the scoop.
Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.
So here’s my list. I came up with the list in short order, but took some time to fill out the descriptions and the reasons for the picks.
- Dune by Frank Herbert
This was the first real science fiction book that pulled me into its world. I read and re-read it countless times, soaking up the bits of "wisdom" before each chapter as if they were universal truths being surreptitiously revealed to me. - Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Not much to say here except that LOTR is obviously the foundational work for fantasy and, other than skimming over the elvish songs when I read it (!!!), I savor every word. - His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
I forget how I heard about this book (Quality Paperback Book Club?), but it’s become one of my all time favorite trilogies. The world is fantastic. The characters are wonderful. The uniqueness is stunning. The message is delectable. - Why I am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell
This book is significant for me not because of all the content (it’s a big collection of essays, the title essay being just one of many), but because it was the first book I ever bought that had to do with my newly-realized atheism around age 13. - Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
This book was the perfect recipe to quench my thirst for epic fantasy after reading Lord of the Rings. Though much lighter in tone, the world and the mythology that Brooks created was still captivating and enticing. - Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
When I was a kid, this was my favorite book and it was the first time I ever memorized a book cover to cover. Max was awesome and brave and cool… and just a little bit bad. - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Dinosaurs are cool… but dead. Who wouldn’t love to see an actual Jurassic Park with real dinosaurs in their "natural" habitat. Crichton sucked me in and had me on the edge of my seat with his tale of science gone amuck. I saw the movie first, then read the book, and when I saw the movie a second time, I realized how vivid Crichton’s prose was. I kept expecting to see scenes in the movie that I "remembered" from the first viewing, but were only scenes in my imagination, created by his words. - The Stand by Stephen King
This was a great post-apocalyptic yarn with really creepy parts (going through the corpse-filled Lincoln Tunnel in pitch blackness, anyone?). This cemented Stephen King onto my list as a great writer. - Shatterday by Harlan Ellison
This was my first book by Harlan Ellison and I now have a shelf full of his works. Shatterday is a collection of short stories and it was the first short story collection that I ever read, in order, non-stop from cover to cover. Ellison is a master and is my all-time favorite author. - The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
As a science fiction fan, I was intrigued by the time travel aspect of this book. As it turns out, it’s not really science fiction, but is truly a love story… done in a way that makes time travel seem not just plausible, but catastrophically inconvenient… and sad… and happy… and scary. - Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
This book just wowed me. Golden draws you into a Geisha’s life with such intricate detail while making you empathize with the character’s tragic situation with every bone of your body. His prose makes you feel like you’re inside a fantasy world, not a historical one. - Cyborg by Martin Caiden
This is the book that was the basis for The Six Million Dollar Man with Lee Majors, though there were significant differences. Cyborg was a gritty action novel of "science," intrigue, spies, and politics… and it was way better than the TV show. - Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
An epic Heinlein tale, Stranger was so sweeping that I don’t remember many of the details, but a few of them have stuck with me my entire life. It’s on a list of "read ’em again" books. - My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
My mother introduced me to this book as it was a favorite of hers growing up. This wonderful tale of a young boy’s search to find and rescue a baby dragon on the Wild Island… a dragon that he learned about from an old alley cat. With wonderful talking animals, colorful characters, and a great happy ending, this is a terrific book that I passed on to my daughter. - My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
I don’t remember the whole story of this book, but I remember it was my inspiration for how to survive when I ran away from home at age 12. I planned on living in the woods and surviving by using many of the techniques described in this book… though I ended up returning home the next day when I couldn’t get a fire started and got really, really homesick.
There’s my list. I could have added a few others, but those were the first ones that came to mind.